Machine for stretching uppers of boots or shoes



5 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

A. F. PRESTON.

MACHINE FOB STRETGHING UPPERS 0F BOOTS AND SHOES.

PatentedJune 30,1891.

WITFIEEE'J E5- 5 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

A. F. PRESTON. MACHINE FOR STRETGHING UPPERS 0F BOOTS 'AND SHOES.

No. 455,024. Patented June 30, 1891.

v Fig-5- MT 55555, Inn/ENTER.

5 Sheets-Sheet 3,

(No Model.\ A. P. PRESTO-N. MAGHINB FOB. STRETOHING UPPERS 0F BOOTS ANDSHOES. No. 455,024. Patented June so, 1891'.

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(No Model.) 1 5 SheetsSheet 4. A F. PRESTON. MACHINE FOR STRBTGHINGUPPERS 0? BOOTS AND SHOES. No.455,024.- Pat'ntedJune 30,1891.

I Ink/ENTE i 1 A A 5 Shets-Sheet 5,

(No Model.)

A. I. PRESTON. MAGHINE FOR STRETGHING UPPERS 0P BOOTS AND SHOES. No.455,024. Patented June 30, 1891.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT F. PRESTON, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE PRESTON 4MACHINE COMPANY, OF PORTLAND, MAINE.

MACHINE FORSTRETCHING UPPE RSYOF BOOTS OR SHOES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 455,024, dated June 30,1891. Application filed December 30, 1889 Renewed November 28, 1890.Serial No. 372,898. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it mag concern;

'Be it known that I, ALBERT F. PRESTON, of Lynn, in the county of Essexand State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new. and usefulImprovements in Machines for;

Stretching Uppers of Boots or Shoes, of which the following is a full,clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to a machine forstretching uppers of boots orshoes, more particularly at the shank, preparatory to their beinglasted, for the easier and quicker lasting and the better fit of theupper at the shank; and the invention consists of two sets of rolls,each roll of each set secured to a separate shaft and arranged torevolve in a suitable support in connection with the other rolls, andconstructed and arranged for operation substantially as hereinafterfully described; and the invention also consists of the construction andarrangement of other parts in connection therewith, all substan' tiallyas'hereinafter fully described.

In the accompanying sheets of drawings is illustrated a machineconstructed in accordance with this invention, in which Figure 1 is aside view of the machine on a standard ready for operation. Fig. 2 is afront view. Fig. 3 is a rear view. Fig. 4 is a plan view. Fig. 5 is aplan view below sectionline 5 5, Fig. 6. Fig. 6 isavertical longitudinalsection on line 6 6, Fig. n. Fig. 7 is a vertical cross-section on line7 '7, Fig. 4. Fig. 8 is a detail side View of an upper to be hereinafterreferred to. Fig. 9 isa horizontal section above the upper rolls, andshowing the rolls and their shafts in plan view.

The views Figs. 2 to 7, both inclusive, and Fig. 9, are enlarged, andrelateto the operating parts of the machine, supported by one F abovethe other G, making the other set, and which might be called the.Foperatin g-rolls,although both sets operate together. The four rollsprojectfrom the front of the frame-work O, and each is secured to and onthe front end of a separate horizontal shaft II, J, K, and L,respectively. The shaft J to mun turns in bearing-blocks M N,one M atthefront and the other N at the rear, and each block has a horizontalside-projecting pin a, which pass through sockets I), respectively, inthe side frame cl, each having a screw-thread on its outer end outsideof the frame toreceive a screw-nut c, by which the two bearing-blocks MN are secured and held firmly in place against the side frame for thesupport of the shaft J. The shaft II of the roll D, above the roll E,has its rear block P provided with ahorizontally side-proj ecting pin f,which passes through a socket c" in the side frame cl, and is secured tothe side frame by a screw-nut g on the out-side of the frame in a likemanner to the block N, but so that the block can swivel by its pin inits socket. The shaft 7 5 L of the roll G is arranged to turn inbearing-blocks Q R, like the blocks M N to the shaft J of roll E; buttheir respective horizontal side-projecting pins 71) are on the oppositeside and are secured in sockets m, re- So speetively, in the other sideframe 11. byscrewnuts 1'. The shaft K of the roll F has a rearbearing-block S, like the bearing-block P of the shaft H of roll D, itshorizontal side-projecting pin 25 being in a socket c in the side frameat and secured by screw-nut u, but free enough to swivel in itsbearing-socket like the bearing-block P for the shaft II. The uppershafts K I-I turn in front bearingblocks T II, respectively, which aredisposed go between the two side framesncl, and between thesebearing-blocks and the front bearingblocks of the lower shafts is a fiatvertical strip V, which extends down into an open slot .2 in the bottomcross-piece U of the 5 frame, and is prevented from escape by abar o,secured to the front of the bottom piece by screws to over the slot, thestrip being arranged to move freely up and down between thebearing-blocks and in the open slot;

Pivoted on a cross-pin y of the strip V are blocks a a, one 011 eachside, the pin being secured in the strip and projecting each sidesufficiently to receive the blocks, and on which pin the blocks swivel.The adjacent corners of the four front bearing-blocks are cut awaysufficiently, as shown in Figs. 3 and 7, to allow room for the blocksand for the upper front bearing-blocks 'l U to rest thereon, as shownmore particularly in Fig. 7. The upper end of this strip is pivoted at bbetween the forked end a of a horizontal lever Y, pivoted to the upperfront bar A at d, the forked end fitting loosely in a vertical open slot6' in the under and'front side of the bar.

B B are pins disposed in vertical sockets f f in the cross-bar A andresting on the upper bearing-blocks T U and projecting a short distanceabove the bar for the free ends of flat springs C, respectively, to bearthereon, the middle portion of each spring bearing up against the lowerside g of a cross-bar D of the frame and each spring being secured byits other or rear end 71. by a thumb-screw E, screwing through andbearing against the upper side of the rear cross-bar F of the frame. Aseither thumb-screw E is turned down, it raises its end of its respectivespring, and by the confinement of the spring under the cross-bar D thefree end of the spring will be caused to bear the more firmly on itsvertical pin B and thus upon its bearingblock T or U of the upper rollsF D to hold the rolls to their work with the degree of pressure desired,and turning either thumbscrew up correspondinglyrelieves such pressure.The other end of the lever Y is connected to a rod m, which passesfreely down through an opening at in an arm G of the standard, and isconnected by its lower end to the rear end of a treadle H, pivoted at qto the standard. 011 the rod m, between the arm G and a collar J,secured on the rod by a set-screw 0", is a spiral spring 15, which byits tension pushes down the rod, and with it the rear end of the lever,lifting by its connecting-strip V the upper rolls from the lower rollsagainst their springs C,their shafts swinging on their rear bearing-block pins, (shown in Fig. 9,) which is the normal positions of theupper rolls. Pressing down the treadle raises the lever and allows therollsprings C to freely act upon the upper rolls to press them down uponthe lower rolls, which remain so so long as the treadle is held down;but when allowed to rise the spring t to the treadle acts to raise theupper rolls at their front ends, as shown, into their normal positions.The shaft H of the upper roll D extends back of the rear part of theframe and has a gear-wheel J which engages witha gearwheel K of half itsdiameter on the shaft L of the lower roll G, diagonally oppositethereto. Secured to the shaft L beyond the gear-wheel K is a miter gearwheel L, which engages with a miter gear-wheel M, secured on a shorthorizontal shaft N at right angles thereto, and arranged to turn inbearings in the parts P of the frame, and having a pulley Q secured toits outer end for operation thereof. The shaft II of the roll D has abevel gearwheel R, which engages with a bevel gearwheel S on the shaft Jof the roll E, and the shaft K of the roll F has a bevel gear-wheel T,which engages with a bevel gear-wheel U on the shaft L of roll Gr,these gear-wheels being all of the same diameter. By turning the shaft Nthe shaft of the lower roll F is turned, which by tliegear-wheel K turnsthe upper roll-shaft H diagonally opposite thereto, and by theintermediate gear-wheels on the rollshafts the other two rolls arecorrespondingly revolved.

The upper to be stretched is placed by its proper edge at one end in andbetween the rolls from the right, as shown in'dotted lines in Fig. ehandthen the treadle is pressed down, which raises the lever Y and allowsthe upper set of rolls to rest and press upon the upper placed betweenthem. The pulley is then re- 7 volved in any suitable manner, whichcauses all the rolls to turn in the direction of the arrows, Fig. 2,which feeds the upper through or between the upper and lower rolls, andas it is so fed or moved the portion of the upper that is pressedbetween the rolls is stretched, and from the relation of the diametersof the last two or operating rolls F G to the diameters of the first twoor feeding rolls D E and the relative differences of their diametersfrom their ends backward the upper will be stretched more at the edgeand gradually less therefrom toward the central portion, and also fromthe central point at the edge toward each end of the stretched portion,which gives the necessary and required stretch to the upper.

In the present feeding-machine the rolls D E are of larger diameter attheir outer ends and decrease in diameter or taper from such endsbackward equally, and the operatingrolls F G are smaller in diameter attheir outer ends and increase in diameter back therefrom equally, whichincrease in diameters corresponds to the decrease of the diameters ofthe other or feeding rolls. Because of the taper of the several rollsand to bring the faces or operating-surfaces of the rolls contiguous andparallel with each other, as shown, for the better operation of themachine, the central axial lines of their respective shafts are arrangeddiagonally in relation to each other, as shown, except that the centralaxial lines of the two shafts H L, diagonally opposite to each other,are parallel with each other.

In a practical operating-machine the diameter of each feeding-r0111) Eat the line a, which is one-quarter of an inch from the end, is one andthree-eighths (1%) of an inch, and from this line each decreases indiameter one-eighth of an inch to each inch in length, and the diameterof the operatingrolls F G at the line 0, which line corresponds to andis the same vertical plane with the line 10' on the feeding'rolls, iseleven-sixteenths of an inch, or just one-half of the diameter of thefeed-rolls, and from this line backward the diameter of each of theserolls increases one-eighth (s) of an inch to each one inch in length,and the diameters and increase of diameters of the operating-rolls inrelation to the diameters'and decrease of diameters of thefeeding-rolls, as the piece of material of which the upper is made isfed through and between the upper and lower rolls, is what gives thestretch to the upper more at the edge and decreasing centrally backtherefrom and lengthwise, as is desired for the better lasting of theupper.

Although the operating-rolls at the lines o are one-half the diameter ofthe feeding-rolls at the lines to, the surfaces of the operatingrolls atsuch lines travel with the same speed that the surfaces of thefeeding-rolls at such lines do, for the reason that the gear-wheel K ofoperating-roll shaft L is half the diameter of the gear-wheel J" of thefeeding-roll shaft H. Therefore the leather of the upper at such line isnot stretched; but backward from these lines on the rolls theoperatingrolls increase in diameter and the feedingrolls correspondinglydecrease in diameter, and accordingly the surfaces of the operatingrolls increase in speed and the surfaces of the feeding-rolls decreasein speed, which correspondingly pulls and stretches the material of theupper, for in their operation the operating-rolls tend to pull thematerial through faster from their front ends to their rear ends, and atthe same time the feedingrolls tend to correspondingly hold back uponthe material from the front ends to their rear ends, and correspondinglythe material will be stretched more at the edge of the upper than backtherefrom, and such stretch is illustrated in Fig. 8, which is a sideView of an upper, in which to is the edge where stretched, and y isaline representing where practically all the stretch ceases, the stretchbeing more at the central point 2 on the edge and diminishing graduallytoward the liney' radially, as it were, and to the extreme points a" b".The pull upon and the stretch of the material as it passes between therolls is such that the material will pass out from and between the rollswhen it arrives at the point a and practically only stretch the upperbetween the curve-line 3 and its edge w.

In addition to the operating-rolls acting to stretch the material theyalso roll and press the material, so that when it leaves the rolls inits stretched condition it will practically remain so, and not contractor return to its original condition.

In lieu of making the several rolls of the diiferences in diameters andincrease and decrease of speeds in the proportions herein stated, theycan be Varied as desired; but in such variations the increase of speedof the last two rolls from their outer ends inwardly relatively to thedecrease of speed of the feeding-rolls from their outer ends inwardlymust be maintained ina more or' less degree, according as the upper isrequired to be stretched more or less at the edge'as, for instance, thefeeding-rolls can be straighter.

parallel with each other; but in such case the operating-rolls shouldincrease in diameter backward from their outer ends and correspondinglyquicker. It is preferable, however, to have the feed-rolls diminish indiameter from their outer ends, as in feeding the piece of materialbetween the rolls it will be moved because of such decrease of diametersin a direction to givethe peculiar stretch, and which is described andshown, needed to the shank of the upper.

Although the first two rolls are designated as feeding-rolls, they alsooperate in stretching the material in connection with the others, inthat they not only hold it for the 0perating-rolls to pull and stretchit, but also tend by their decrease of diameters to retard its deliveryto the operating-rolls correspondingly to such decrease of diameter, andthus insure the better and fuller stretch of the material.

To assist in placing and guiding the upper in between the rolls, a plateWV, secured to the side of the frame by the screw-nut c, has an openhorizontal slot d", which is in the same horizontal plane of the spacebetween the upper and lower feed-rolls.

To insure that the material bein g stretched shall not slip, the rollsare corrugated or grooved longitudinally, as shown at f" g", the lowerrollsbeing corrugated the full length, but the upper rolls only beingcorrugated part way, as shown, for the reason that as the upper is runthrough the machine with its face side uppermost it will not answer tohave the upper rolls corrugated too far forward, so as not to extendover and back from the edge sufficient to injure the face of the upperthat might show after'the boot is finished; The part nearest the edgebeing taken up in securing the soles to the upper, it will do no harm tohave the corrugations bear upon such part.

The rolls can be made to operate at their extreme outer ends,-and notback therefrom at the lines a and r, as stated; but in hav ing theoperating-line back from the ends the rolls between such lines and theirouter ends should preferably be straight, having no taper in eitherdirection. The rolls in the present instance are preferably made of acollar or sleeve shape and made to fit on the ends of their respectiveshafts and abut against the front part of the frame and are securedbytransverse strips h" and screwsm", as shown, although they can bemadeintegral with the shafts or in any suitable manner, and also can bemade of any suitable material and corrugated or grooved in any suitablemanner; also, the various parts of the machine can be made of anysuitable metal.

The rolls can be changed more or less as to their tapering or varying ofdiameter, as stated before; but it is essential that either thefeeding-rolls or the operating-rolls must be tapering in order toproduce the stretch of the upper desired, although it is preferable tohave both sets tapering and about as described. The shaft K has a plateR secured on its end by a screw n", bearing against the side of itsfront block S, securing the shaft to the block and preventing itsdetachment therefrom, the other shafts being held by their endgear-wheels.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is-- 1. The combinationof two sets of rolls, each roll of each set secured to a separate shaftarranged to revolve in a suitable support in connection with the shaftsof the other rolls, the rolls of one set being tapering, for the purposespecified.

2. The combination of two sets of rolls, each roll of each set beingsecured to a separate shaft arranged to revolve in a suitable support inconnection with the shafts of the other rolls, the rolls of one settapering in one direction and the rolls of the other set tapering in theother or reverse direction, for the purpose specified.

3. The combination of two sets of rolls, each roll of each set beingsecured to a separate shaft arranged to revolve in a suitable support inconnection with the shafts of the other rolls, the rear bearing-blocksfor the shafts of the upper rolls of each. set of rolls being pivoted totheir support, and the front bearingblocks of said shafts connected to alever for raising said rolls, for the purpose specified.

4. The combination of two sets of rolls, each roll of each set securedto a separate shaft arranged to revolve in a suitable support, theopposite diagonal shafts of the two sets of rolls being connected toeach other by gearwheels and the lower shaft of each set of rolls beingconnected to the upper shaft of its set of rolls by gear-wheels, for thepurpose specilied.

5. The combination of two sets of rolls, each roll of each set beingsecured to a separate shaft arranged to revolve in a suitable support inconnection with the shafts of the other rolls, the rear bearing-blocksfor the shafts of the upper rolls of each set of rolls being pivoted totheir support, and a spring C to each upper roll of each set, for thepurpose specified.

6. The combination of two sets of rolls, each roll of each set beingsecured to a separate shaft arranged to revolve in a suitable support inconnection with the shafts of the other rolls, the rear bearing-blocksfor the shafts of the upper rolls of each set of rolls being pivoted totheir support, the front bearing-blocks of the set of rolls connected toa lever Y by a strip V, arranged between the front bearingblocks of thetwo sets of rolls.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twoSllbSGllblllg' witnesses.

ALBERT F. PRESTON.

"Jitnesses:

EDWIN W. BROWN. CARRIE E. NICHOLS.

